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Obituary for
Katherine “Kay” Hobden (nee Faryna)
October 7, 1921 – December 28, 2024
After Christmas visits with family, Kay passed away in her sleep. She was born one hundred and three years ago in Edmonton. Her father, Harry (Hryhorij) Faryna, worked for the Canadian National Railway as a section foreman in centers such as Smoky Lake, Islay, Northern Valley, Lindberg, Elk Point, and Edmonton, Alberta. Kay’s mother and father and her three siblings lived in all these places, spending two years on the half section of land her father had bought, where they began farming. The 1929 Depression forced Harry to continue working for the CNR, so his wife, Josephine Faryna, managed the farm until it was sold in the 1960’s. The family resided in towns closest to the farm.
Kay finished high school in Elk Point and attended Normal School in Edmonton, staying at M. Hrushevskyj Institute. (Harry Faryna made sure that all his children, including the girls, received post-secondary education.) Katherine taught school at Willow Range and then in Willingdon, Alberta, where she joined the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada in 1945. After six years of teaching in Alberta, Kay moved to Kimberley, BC, where she continued teaching and met her husband, Dave Hobden, a war veteran. They were married in 1949 at St. John’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral in Edmonton.
While Dave worked as a postal employee for thirty-three years, Kay became a bookkeeper and office manager at a garage. In 1956, they moved back to Edmonton and began to raise a family—David Junior and Sonia. When the children went off to school, Kay began doing marketing research for York University, the University of Alberta and other companies. She retired in 1994, after Dave’s passing in December, 1993.
Kay was many things. She was a dutiful daughter, a capable student, a schoolteacher, a wife, a mother, a researcher, a dedicated parishioner, a valued member and leader of the Ukrainian Women’s Association of Canada, an aunt, a knitter, a crocheter, a bridge player, a curler, a Keep Fit participant, a FaceBook fan, an avid reader, a quiz whiz, a grandmother, and an expert maker of cabbage rolls.
Kay never lost sight of her pioneer roots or her Ukrainian heritage. She believed in helping others and trusted that others would help her in return. She renewed her driver’s licence at age 98 and it expired when she turned 100. She stopped curling at 93. She planned her own 100th birthday party—assigning her 65 guests to certain tables, making sure that her unvaccinated guests were grouped together. She picked the theme and set the program. She was smart and possessed a remarkable memory for numbers, prices, family genealogy, names and events. To the end, she was lucid and alert. In short, she was amazing.
In retirement, Kay Hobden assumed the position of treasurer of the UWAC St. John’s Cathedral Branch and for twenty-one years she managed the considerable funds of the branch with fierce honesty. During her seventy+ years of membership in the UWAC, Kay taught Sunday School, was secretary of “Sadochok”, chaired many monthly catering committees of St. John’s Cathedral parish and worked in the kitchen. She oversaw tickets for events, chaired raffles, contributed to bazaars, white elephant and bake sales, and priced items for sale. She made innumerable trips to the bank to conduct branch business and invested its money wisely. Kay contributed crocheted afghans to raffles and knitted toques and mitts for underprivileged children in Ukraine and Canada. She also crocheted strings for hygiene bags delivered to local women’s shelters and hospitals.
As time passed, she became what Cromwell was to Henry VIII—a trusted advisor to the presidents of the UWAC St. John’s Branch and a source of information about policies of the past. She and her late husband were active members of the St. John’s Bingo Committee and staunch supporters of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Canada and of the Ukrainian Self-Reliance League of Canada, following the example of her late parents, Hryhorij and Osypa Faryna.
Recognition and awards received by Kay include: a certificate for 25 years of service to UWAC (1990) and for 50 years (2013), honourary membership in UWAC (2001), honourary membership in St. John’s Cathedral Parish (1997) and an award of excellence from the USRL of Canada (2017).
Kay is survived by her daughter, Sonia Hobden, and grandsons, Justin and Corey Hobden. She will be missed by her many nieces and nephews and their children, by her dear neighbours, her friends and extended family. She was predeceased by husband, Dave Hobden; son, David Eugene Hobden; grandson, Jordan Gregory Hobden; sister, Rose Faryna; brothers, Leo and Raymond Faryna.
Beloved and admired by so many…may she rest in peace! Memory eternal! Вічная пам’ять!
In lieu of flowers, donations in Kay’s memory can be made to St. John’s Ukrainian Orthodox Parish, 10611 – 110 Avenue, Edmonton, AB, T5H 1H7 or to the Ukrainian Museum of Canada, Alberta Branch at the same address.
Viewing Thursday, January 2, 2025, from 6 p.m. – 7 p.m. at Park Memorial, 9709 – 111 Avenue, Edmonton, AB. Funeral Rite Friday, January 3, 2025, at 11:30 a.m. at St. John’s Ukrainian Orthodox Cathedral, 10951 – 107 Street, Edmonton, AB. Archpriest Cornell Zubritsky and Reverend Father Michael Faryna concelebrating with interment in Evergreen Memorial Gardens.
Submitted by Leona Faryna Bridges for Sonia Hobden, daughter of the deceased
Photo credit: Stefan Ritter
1921 2024
Death notice for the town of: Edmonton, Province: Alberta
death notice Katherine Kay
Hobden nee Faryna 1921 2024
obituaries notice Katherine Kay
Hobden nee Faryna 1921 2024
We offer our deepest sympathies to the family and friends of Katherine Kay
Hobden nee Faryna 1921 2024 and hope that their memory may be a source of comfort during this difficult time. Your thoughts and kind words are greatly appreciated.
